Another Camino Story

By John Seegers

Everyone that walks the Camino de Santiago has their own story to tell.

 

In the fall of 2021, John, at age 67, walked 500 miles on the Camino de Santiago from St. Jean Pied de Port, France to the tomb of Saint James in Santiago de Compostela, Spain. He walked with his friends Rick and Dave.

 

This is John's story. A story that turned out different than expected. Share his experiences along The Way of Saint James. Walking this ancient pilgrimage road, John learned to walk his own Camino through struggles and triumphs. Meet the special people he met along the way, his Camino Family. Learn about the history and myths webbed into the spiritual and inspiring journey on the Camino de Santiago. After reading this story, you will find yourself wanting to "Walk Your Own Camino" to make "Another Camino Story," your own Camino Story.

 

A combination of memoir, self-help, self-realization, and historical account of the Camino de Santiago, this story will capture your attention and imagination, and hopefully, help you on your own Camino through life.

• Language: English
• Publisher: John Seegers
• Release date: Oct 14, 2022
• ISBN: 9798987015131

John Seegers

Author, Photographer, Walker. Retired from the hospitality industry. I have longed believed that I struck out on my own when I was eight years old to Walk My Own Camino. That was the year my mom died. That was the year I learned about self-reliance to move forward. There was my father and four brothers, one a twin, but still, the world changed for me. Then, when I was fifteen my dad died. I moved on to the next phase of my life, living with my older brother Ron and his new wife Lorraine. I went away to college. I dropped out and moved to Florida when I was twenty. Worked for Walt Disney World for three years. Then tried several other options - delivering potato chips, selling life insurance, and commercial sheet metal ductwork. Finally ended up as a hotel convention service manager and moved into hotel group sales positions. Eventually, I retired. That was the journey of my life, my personal Camino. The path I walked, like walking the Camino de Santiago, had many ups and downs, joys and sorrows, elation and depression. That is the path of living. We all experience these emotions or issues of life to different degrees. But we move on. One foot in front of the other.

Book preview

PART ONE

LOSING THE WEIGHT

CHAPTER ONE

Retirement

FOR most of my adult life, I worked in the hospitality industry, starting in 1975 when I moved to Florida from New Jersey at age 20 to work at Walt Disney World. After about three years, the pixie dust fell off and I tried several other professions, such as delivering potato chips to supermarkets and convenience stores, selling life insurance, and a construction job doing sheet metal duct work. None of these really suited me. So I kept looking for something I could enjoy. Eventually, in 1980, I ended up as a convention services manager at one of the hotels on Walt Disney World property. For most of the next 35 years, I served the hotel industry as a catering convention services manager coordinating group events at the hotel or as a group sales manager responsible for booking group accommodations for different markets. Bookings included government and association meetings, youth tour groups or sports groups, religious meetings and so on. My marketing and sales efforts would vary based on the hotel.

Over the years I worked for several different hotels, except for a short stint trying to own and operate a farm supply and feed store. The farm and feed business didn’t work out as expected, ending in bankruptcy in about a year and a half. I returned to the hotel industry as a group sales manager until 2016 when the current hotel owner sold the property. Experience told me new owners will hire their own team. Turning 62 in August and not in the mood for job hunting, I decided to retire. I had put in my time. My house was paid for. My truck was paid for. The only bills I had were for normal monthly expenses, such as electric, telephone and Internet service. I could live off my social security benefits without having to dig into the small sum I saved for retirement. I could do it. It was time to retire.

CHAPTER TWO

How easy the weight goes on

FOR the most part, I really enjoyed working in the hospitality industry. Over the years, I met many wonderful people and made good friends with many industry associates and clients. Even after retirement, I managed to keep up with a few of them, mostly through social media apps like Facebook.

Along with great people, the industry is also noted for great food and beverages. As a catering manager I worked closely with clients and the hotel chef to create menus for their catered events. As a sales manager, I often entertained clients to discuss their events over a meal in the hotel restaurant. Other responsibilities included travel around the country for sales calls, conventions and trade shows. With an expense account and a meal per diem, I ate in restaurants regularly while out of town. Most conventions I attended included scheduled meals and receptions, as well as refreshments during meeting breaks. All offered in abundance to impress attendees or showcase the convention facility.

Although, I traveled a bit, most of my sales efforts were by telephone with follow up in the early years by regular postal mail and later by email. All this means is I spent most of my time sitting at a desk giving me ample opportunity to pack on the pounds, which I did successfully.

When I moved to Florida in 1975 at the age of 20, I was about 175 pounds. This grew over the years until I reached well over 300 pounds by the time I retired in 2016. The markings on the scale at the Publix Supermarket went up to 300. When I stepped on, it flew past the 300 and back past the zero again. I estimated my weight at 320. At a weigh-in at the doctor’s office in August 2017 for an annual exam, I weighed in at 307, already down a few pounds, but hardly enough to be healthy. I was obese.

Now retired, I could not use time as an excuse for not exercising. I had all the time in the world. The fifty to sixty hours each week, not including travel time, given to my employer was now mine to use as I wished.

My plans for retirement never included sitting around watching television all day. I knew I had to stay busy. With that in mind, I did a lot of yard work, replaced the siding on my house and other happy homeowner chores. All this activity away from the desk did help me lose a few pounds, but not so many to be noticeable. More needed to be done.

CHAPTER THREE

One Step at a Time

I reside in a rural neighborhood surrounding Lake Mary Jane in southeast Orlando. Originally plotted in the mid-1950s, the wooded lots were sold off to individual buyers to build their homes. Unlike current land development, the Isle of Pines is not a cookie cutter community with clear cut lots and every fifth house looking the same. A quiet, quaint, and eclectic community, it features individually built homes reflecting the owner’s personality. Most homeowners left the pine trees and live oaks, keeping the rural atmosphere intact. The Isle of Pines became a pleasant community with friendly neighbors appreciating the special nature of our neighborhood.  Because it’s a limited access neighborhood backed up to a protected wildlife corridor and preserve, there is only one way in and out. A great neighborhood to walk around since traffic is limited. Fellow neighbors walk or ride the streets on bicycles or golf carts every day.

Although I have the privilege of living in such a great neighborhood for walking, it took the example of my neighbor Rick across the street to wake me up to this wonderful activity. You see Rick, like me, had packed on quite a few pounds, approaching three hundred pounds himself.  However, he had blown out a knee and needed to go in for a second knee replacement. Learning from the first operation, Rick knew recovery would be much easier if he lost weight. He began his daily walks and invited me to join him.

For a while I came up with a variety of excuses to avoid walking. It took too much time. I had other things to do. It was too hot. My arthritic knee couldn’t take the pounding. Eventually, I succumbed to his suggestion when I saw him successfully shedding pounds.

When I started walking, I started slowly. At first, I only walked a block or two and on my own. Rick walked much too fast and I couldn’t keep up. Eventually, over time, I could keep up and extended the distance walked to seven to ten miles each day. Walking helped me lose over 100 pounds.

As we walked together, among other things, Rick discussed his plans for walking the Camino de Santiago in Spain, a 500 mile journey to Santiago de Compostela, staying in a hostel or an albergue along the way and sleeping in bunkbeds with up to fifty people in a room. He told me the walk took about 30 to 35 days. He began referring to his daily walks around the neighborhood as training. Good for him, I thought, but no way would I be joining him. I spent my career in the hotel business and learned to enjoy the luxury of hotel accommodations with comfortable beds, restaurants and room service. Staying in a hostel and sharing a dormitory room with many strangers did not sound exciting to me. But, as I lost weight and the walking became easier, I considered the idea of walking the Camino de Santiago as feasible.

The COVID-19 pandemic delayed Rick’s trip. Originally, he planned to take The Walk in May/June 2020, but then the Corona Virus showed up in December 2019 in China and quickly became a world wide pandemic by March 2020. To stem the pandemic, throughout the world, borders closed, all but essential businesses closed, and curfews and stay at home orders implemented. Mask and social distancing soon became a new normal. All in an effort to curb this virus infecting millions and taking thousands of lives.

With all this going on and the borders of Spain closed, it was unhealthy, unwise and nearly impossible to take the pilgrimage walk. It looked like May/June 2021, or possibly September 2021, would be the earliest we could go.

It wasn’t until June 2021 that the European Union started opening borders, first among themselves, then for Americans. Even with the borders open, there were still hoops to jump through such as presenting a negative covid test or proof of vaccine. Spain had a form that needed to be completed. A QR code provided by the Spanish Department of Health allowed access to transportation if vaccinated. Eventually, all this is worked out and we went on our way.

When I finally decided to do The Walk, I knew I needed to train for the journey.

The need to train for this walk brings me to the topic of setting goals. I believe it is important to have a goal in order to measure and achieve success. If you don’t have a concrete or precise goal, you should still set some type of goal, even if it is vague. Once this is done, start taking steps to reach your goal. As you take those steps, the goal becomes more concrete and you will learn what you are seeking. Then, you move on.

It is important to take the first step. When I started walking, I needed to take that first step. Once I took the first step, a second followed, then a third and a fourth. I guess by now well over a million. All this walking eventually led me to the 500 mile Camino de Santiago pilgrimage across northern Spain.  A few years ago, I would have considered walking 500 miles insane. Now, with my mind made up, I had a goal and took the first step. There is a great deal of satisfaction in working towards and achieving one’s goals.

For the first step of my journey, I learned about the Camino de Santiago, its history and traditions. The more I learned, the more excited I became about this adventure. Although delayed a few years by the covid pandemic which caused border closures and local lockdowns where you could hardly leave your house, I did get to my goal. To keep motivated on daily walks I imagined walking the old cobblestone Roman roads of the Camino de Santiago. My walks took me through imagined farmlands, vineyards and small hamlets of Spain. I climbed the Pyrenees and crossed the expanse of the Meseta. I knew these imaginary walks around the neighborhood would lead to the real walk in Spain.

One thing I learned from 30 years in the hotel business, is the importance of goals. Now, I did moan and groan many times about unrealistic goals. Goals, I believe, should be tough but achievable. Goals are a target, something to shoot for.

When you set your goals, think about a target. For sales it may be a certain amount of revenue or bookings per month, per year. Break it down into small sections: a week, a month, a year.  My walking goal started with a block, then two blocks, then three and eventually 500 miles on the Camino de Santiago. What a trip.

Along with my goal to walk the Camino de Santiago, I made a step towards a childhood goal, the goal to write and publish my story.

At 10 or 11 years old, I wrote my first short story about dinosaurs, mimicking the Japanese monster movies of the day. Unfortunately, those pages are long gone. Since then I have been looking for my story.

Throughout the years, I attempted to write something worth publishing, something people would read. I completed a couple novels but did not publish. They weren’t good and not worth publishing. The stories weren’t good because they lacked the passion and the heart needed to be worth reading. Writing this book became a calling when I decided to walk the Camino de Santiago. I felt this story would interest an audience and somehow serve a purpose for some people. If nothing else, I leave a story for my family and friends.

With the writing and publishing of this journal, I achieved another goal from my childhood, the dream of being a published and successful author.  We will see how the success part goes by the sales of this book. Nonetheless, I do consider the completion of this book as a success in itself.

I worked on the draft manuscript regularly and, eventually, finished.  I hope this is the book people read and learn from.

So, my point is that personal goals should be real. You should have your heart in it. If you don’t believe in reaching your goal, you’re probably not going to get your goal. You have to want it. Not just want it as an as if or a maybe. You have to believe it. You have to see yourself there. I saw myself walking 10 miles a day, 15 miles a day and as interest grew, I saw myself walking the Camino without any issues. I looked at it and said, hey, I can do that. Losing weight, the same thing, I can do that. I lost the weight. I went from over 300 pounds to under 200. Now, it’s maintaining, so I walk everyday. Writing this book, the same thing. I saw the completed book in my head, on people’s ebook readers and bookshelves.

Now, with the pilgrimage over, I learned the journey getting to your destination is as important as the goal. The steps you take are as important as the goal itself. The goals of losing weight, walking the Camino de Santiago, writing and publishing the memoir, and a happy life are all about making the journey, taking the steps. The journey is about what I achieve, what I experience, the people I meet along the way, the life I live as I walk my own Camino.

Use the guidebooks, but don’t set a strict itinerary, walk at your own pace. Stop worrying. Live in the moment and focus on the present.

We all walk the same road but come at it in our own way.

Walking the Camino should be as stress free as possible, which means you will want to leave your worries behind. The Camino provides is a common belief along the pilgrimage trail. Somehow you will manage. The things you truly need will be there and you will learn to live without the things you don’t need. As many people do, I brought too much with me and shed some of this extra baggage after just a few days. I mailed home the many items I didn’t need.

In a scene in the movie The Ten Commandments the Hebrews wake to find mounds of leaven. Moses warns not to store the leaven, but to believe God will provide.

Live your life believing that God will provide. Take worry from your life and believe that what should be will be.

PART TWO

A HISTORY OF CAMINO DE SANTIAGO

CHAPTER FOUR

History Camino de Santiago

THE Camino de Santiago is all about Saint James. It is also known as The Way of Saint James. The Way is a pilgrimage to the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela containing the remains of Saint James. Medieval Pilgrims, called peregrinos, made the Way of Saint James seeking penance, healing, or answers to their prayers. Christians visited the site for plenary redemption to reduce time spent in purgatory before their entrance into heaven. Some were sentenced by the judiciary to make the pilgrimage as part of their punishment. Should their pilgrimage take place during a Compostelan Holy Year, the years in which the feast of the Apostle Santiago, July 25, falls on a Sunday, all sins may be forgiven.  Passing through the Holy Door of a Catholic Church grants the sinner a plenary indulgence provided they confess their sins, attend Mass, receive Holy Communion and proper prayer. If this is done, all sins are forgiven and they can skip purgatory and go directly to heaven.

On the New Year’s Eve preceding the Holy Year or Año Xacobeo (Jacobean Year), a ceremony is performed and the doors are unlocked for the pilgrims to enter. The doors are locked again at the following New Year’s Eve.

The concept of a Holy Year started in 1122 when Pope Calixtus II allowed the Compostela to grant plenary indulgences during years the Saint’s day fell on a Sunday.

The Camino de Santiago is not a single pilgrim’s route to Santiago de Compostela but a network of routes ending at the Cathedral de Santiago de Compostela. Each pilgrim’s Camino route actually starts when leaving home.

The following are the best know Camino routes:[1]

Camino Frances: The French Way is the most popular Camino route. The traditional starting point for the Camino Frances is Saint Jean Pied de Port. This route takes pilgrims over the Pyrenees, through northern Spain and La Rioja wine region.

Camino Portuguese: The Portuguese Way usually starts in the city of Lisbon and follows the northern coast of Portugal heading inland at Porto to Spain.

Camino Portuguese Coastal: This is the same route as the Camino Portugues until Porto when pilgrims decide to stay along the Atlantic coast before moving inland.

Camino del Norte: The Northern Way runs along Spain’s northern coast to join the Camino Primitivo Route in Oviedo. Pilgrims get to enjoy the breathtaking scenery along the coast. 

Camino Primitivo: The Original Way, believed to be the first pilgrimage route begins in Oviedo and proceeds through Galicia to Santiago de Compostela. The first reported pilgrim was Alfonso II of Asturias (c. 760-842) known as the Chaste.[2]

Via de la Plata: The Silver Way or Camino Mozarabe begins in Seville and up the western peninsula.

Le Puy Camino: this section of the Camino starts in Le Puy, France and joins the Camino Frances at Saint Jean Pied de Port.

Camino Finisterre: Muxia Way, a walk from Santiago to Cape Finisterre, considered by pilgrims to be the end of the world, is on the Atlantic Ocean in the northwestern part of Galicia. 

Camino Ingles: The English Way is a route taken by pilgrims arriving by sea from Northern Europe to ports on the coast of Galicia.

Codex Calixtinus

The Codex Calixtinus, written about 900 years ago, is one of the most import documents of Christian history and is kept at the Santiago Cathedral. It is considered to be one of the first pilgrim guides. The manuscript is composed of over 200 parchments and divided into 5 books with two appendices. It is believed to be written in the mid 1100s. However, no one knows the real author of the Codex. 

Book I: Book of the Liturgies, a collection of liturgical text to honor Saint James in Masses, sermons, etc.

Book II: Book of Miracles, recounts 22 of the miracles of Saint James.

Book III: Transfer of the body to Santiago, recounts the voyage of Santiago’s remains from Jerusalem to Galicia.

Book IV: The History of Charlemagne and Roland, recounts Charlemagne’s battles against Muslims, including stories of Roland.

Book V: A Guide for the Traveller, believed to be one of the first guides for the pilgrimage including information about towns, churches, and places to stay along the way.

Musical Appendix: Contains the Polyphonic Corpus, pieces representing European polyphony.[3]

CHAPTER FIVE

Saint James

SAINT JAMES[4] is one of the 12 apostles chosen by Jesus. When James, his father Zebedee and his brother John were fishing, unsuccessfully, in the Sea of Galilee, Jesus, walking along the shore, called out to them and told the men to dip their nets once again whereupon they found the nets full. Their boat nearly sinks from the weight when they empty the net into the boat.

Saint James was referred to as the greater because he was taller than James, the Lesser, another apostle.

Following the death of Jesus, the apostles went their separate ways to spread the word of God. James went to Iberia in Northern Spain, now Galicia, to convert the pagans to Christianity. He experienced limited success. Upon his return to Jerusalem, James was arrested and beheaded by King Herrod Agrippa. James was the first of the apostles martyred due to his faith.[5] Following his death, Saint James ashes, accompanied by two of his disciples, Theodore and Athanasius[6], were set adrift on a rudderless boat that landed in the northwest corner of Spain in Galicia where they buried the remains. Queen Lupa provided a marble tomb for the saint and the two disciples.

The burial site of Saint James was forgotten until the 9th century when the hermit Pelagius had a vision of a star that led him to an ancient tomb with three bodies. He reported the find to Theodomir, the local bishop, who deemed the remains to be of Saint James and his two disciples. Theodomir reported the find to Alphonso II, the King of Asturias who made Saint James the patron saint of the area which would eventually become Spain.

Throughout Spain, Saint James is depicted as a pilgrim with staff, gourd and scallop shell. At other times, he is depicted as a warrior, Saint James the Moor-slayer or Saint James Matamoros

According to the myth, Saint James appeared at a battle at Clavijo in 844 C.E., charging into the battlefield on a white horse attacking the Moors with his sword resulting in a victory for Christian forces. It is believed over 5000 Moors were killed in this battle. He earned the title Matamoros or Moor-slayer.[7]

While walking the Camino, scallop shells and yellow arrows are used to mark the way, but why a scallop shell?

It is believed that Saint James used the scallop shell during his pilgrimage to beg for food and water. Since the shell was small, even the poorest could provide a little help. The scallop shell is abundant along the coast of Spain and early pilgrims used the shell for food and water. Followers of Saint James began wearing the scallop shell and it became the symbol of the pilgrimage, the journey a Christian makes through life. Life’s journey for Christians begins at baptism with the baptismal font often shaped like a scallop shell. A scallop shaped saucer is often used to pour water over the heads of the person being baptized.

Metaphorically, the lines of a scallop shell represent all the paths leading to the tomb of Saint James at Santiago de Compostela with all lines on the shell leading to one point. 

Today, pilgrims still wear the shell around their necks or on their backpacks to identify themselves as pilgrims.

CHAPTER SIX

Order of the Templar

THE BEGINNINGS OF THE Knights Templar[8] started with the Crusades when several religious military orders were created to fight a war between Christians and Muslims for Jerusalem and surrounding areas. In 1118 Hugues de Payens, a French knight, and Godofredo de Saint-Adhemar, a Flemish knight, created a military order called the Poor Knights of the Temple of King Solomon or the Order of the Poor Soldiers of Christ. They became more commonly known as the Knights Templar.

The order started with ten or less friends and family of Hugues de Payens with a vow of poverty, chastity, and a pledge to protect pilgrims traveling to Jerusalem and later to Santiago de Compostela. King Baldwin II of Jerusalem allowed the knights to live at the Temple on Mount Moriah which led to their common name of Knights Templar.

Members of the Knights Templar donated their wealth and lands to the order. Many nobles and kings also donated to the order, eventually the order became very wealthy which led to the Knights Templar banking activities, including loans to monarchs to support the cost of their wars. Interest charged on these loans further increased their wealth.

Since many pilgrims were robbed of their possessions during their pilgrimage, The Templar allowed them to use a credit system during their travels with the first use of letters of credit.

Also, to protect the pilgrims, the Templars built or took over missionaries or buildings, such as the Knights Templar Castle in Ponferrada. Pilgrims were provided food, a place to rest and medical assistance.

King Philip IV of France dissolved the Knights Templar in 1307 due to his distrust of the organization and his great financial debt to the order. Their growing wealth became a threat to Catholic monarchs and to the Papacy. On Friday October 13, 1307 joint forces of Pope Clement V and King Philip of France arrested, tortured and eventually put to death most of the members of the Knights Templar, including their Grand Master Jacques de Molay. The massacre of the Knights Templar on this day may have lead to the belief that Friday the 13th is unlucky.

Jacques de Molay, the 23rd and last Grand Master of the Knights Templar,[9] was born in 1243 in Bourgogne, France. He died on March 18, 1314. After seven years of torture in prison he was burned at the stake by order of King Philip. From the flames was heard the curse of Jacques de Molay against King Phillip and his family, Pope Clement, and anyone else that supported his execution. He called on God to prove the Order’s innocence and pass judgement on the accusers. Within a year of Jacques de Molay’s death, both Pope Clement and King Phillip died. Over the next fourteen years, the sons and grandsons of the King also died and the Capetian dynasty came to an end.

Following the disbanding of the Knights Templar, the Knights Hospitallers of Saint John[10], who already had an active presence along